Whether Thai Spring Rolls or Vietnamese Spring Rolls… Spring Rolls are delicious! Amirite?!?
I have been making spring rolls regularly since my next door neighbor taught me how to make this delicious appetizer from her home country, Vietnam. Ever since then, I have been stuffing spring rolls in various ways – there is so much flexibility when making spring rolls!
Why I love spring rolls:
- Versatile ingredients.
- Can be vegan and vegetarian.
- Are naturally gluten free.
- Fresh ingredients.
- Easy to make – no cooking needed!
- Fun to make – love to have friends over to make these!
- Soooooo good.
Quite possibly the biggest reason spring rolls rock my socks off is there is no end to the filling possibilities. It keeps them exciting and fun!
Basically, the only required ingredient you need is rice paper — and then you can fill it will all kinds of vegetables, herbs and even fruit! (Yes, you can make a dessert spring roll with apples, mango, peaches and a whip cream dipping sauce! Yum!) As far as typical ingredients for spring rolls… here are some ideas:
Spring Roll Ingredient Ideas:
Protein: Cooked Chilled Shrimp, Shredded Chicken, Sliced Flank Steak, Tofu, Pork
Veggies: Shredded Carrots, Sliced Cucumber, Sliced Zucchini, Bibb Lettuce, Romaine Lettuce, Sliced Bell Pepper, Sliced Radish, Chopped Cabbage, Sliced Jicama, Sliced Avocado
Herbs: Thai basil, Mint, Cilantro, Chives
Other: Bamboo Shoots, Rice Stick Noodles, Mango, Bean Sprouts, Rice Vermicelli
Spring rolls are whatever you want them to be! Basically, whatever sounds like a good mix of ingredients you can combine to make your individualized spring rolls. My go-to ingredients are chicken, carrots, cucumber, lettuce, bean sprouts, and all the herbs!
How to Make Spring Rolls:
- Start with washing, gathering and preparing your ingredients of choice. Thinly slice your vegetables – I use a mandolin slicer. Cook your protein and allow to cool before wrapping. Cook your rice noodles (if you are using) according to the package.
- Fill a large bowl or a deep plate with warm water. Carefully dip 1 rice paper wrapper, getting both sides wet until it is still firm but on the brink of soft and pliable (about 5-10 seconds). Continue this process after you make a few rolls – making sure the water stays warm.
- Place the wrapper on a cutting board or a flat surface and layer the ingredients you are using in the center of the rice paper. I add about 1/2 cup – 1 cup of ingredients (don’t over fill).
- Next, gently fold the sides towards the center (like a burrito) , then fold and roll from the bottom (closest to you) up to the top keeping a tight roll.
- For the spring roll dipping sauce, I love San-J gluten free sauces!
Note: I like to use lots of herbs and plenty of vegetables in my spring rolls.
Note: Fill your spring rolls with whatever you’d like, you can’t go wrong!
Vietnamese Spring Rolls
Ingredients
- Rice Paper
- Chicken Cooked, Thinly Sliced
- Bean Sprouts
- Cucumber Shredded
- Carrots Shredded
- Bibb Lettuce
- Cilantro
- Thai Basil
- Mint
- Rice Noodles
Instructions
- Prepare the ingredients. Shred and chop the vegetables. Cook and slice the chicken. Cook the rice noodles.
- Fill a large bowl with warm water and dip the rice paper to make the rice paper pliable. Just a few second is all it takes for the paper to un-stiffen!
- Place the rice paper on a cutting board or clean surface.
- Fill the rice paper with a small amount of each ingredient. Be careful to not over-fill.
- Wrap the rice paper by folding in the sides on to the ingredients and then rolling from the bottom to the top, rolling and wrapping, rolling and tucking. Make sure the roll is tight!
- Place the finished spring roll on a cookie sheet and cover with plastic wrap.
- Enjoy fresh (the best way - right away!) or save for 1-2 days in the refrigerator.
I love dipping my spring rolls in the San-J gluten free sauces. Again, just like the flexibility of the ingredients, the sauce is just as flexible! You can dip these in standard soy sauce, peanut sauce, sweet and sour sauce, mango sauce, spicy chili sauce… yes, all the sauces!!!
The gluten free San-J Orange sauce added a delicious sweetness to my spring rolls! My husband on the other hand, loves the gluten free San-J peanut sauce. We are so different went it comes to sweet and savory! Luckily, San-J has something for everyone!
Check out all the San-J Organic Sauces on their website, Facebook and Twitter.